To be wary of making any further payments?

[Abcdefgfedcba]

I've been very stupid by not keeping a log of everything and am now in a real pickle.

A friend allowed me to purchase items on a catalogue in her name. This was various items over 12 months. I was not the only person, which means the payments made monthly onto the catalogue were for various peoples orders.

I stupidly didn't keep a record of what was bought and what was paid back.

I've asked a few times now for her to send me information of the total cost, along with payments made towards that. She keeps saying she will do this, but never does.

She's not messaging me up to 10 times a day saying I need to pay at least 100 per month because I owe her over 2k.

Looking at my bank statements I have already paid back over 1k.

I ordered clothing, kids Xmas presents last year, a smart watch, laptop.

Am I Being a terrible person to not want to keep putting money into her bank without seeing proof of how much I owe at least?

I'm worried that I'll end up paying money back indefinitely even after clearing the balance.

I'm grateful that I had the opportunity to buy things on the catalogue, but I just want a statement or something to show where I'm up to.

I now feel harassed and stressed by the constant texts. Should I just put more money into her bank?

All those suggesting contacting very

They won’t talk to the OP FFS

This me out me even more, but I guess Co text is everything. She was my childminder. She would also lend me money and me her so transactions through the bank are not clearcut. But I've sifted through all the ins and outs along with what was paid to childcare.

The current arrangement ended because her husband was doing things that was a bit.. Weird for a childcare provider. It was causing issues.

As stated I have no issue paying what I owe. I just wanted to know the full balance plus any interest added so that I could work it all out.

I've been extremely stupid and I've no one to blame but myself. I'm trying to rectify that now.

As an aside, if you were unable to open an account yourself due a poor credit history I'm assuming you've been struggling financially. If so, buying 2 TVs for your kids and spending almost £500 on perfume, smart watches and stocking fillers is not a good idea. When this is over I'd advise avoiding catalogues and buying anything on 'interest free' credit deals that almost always expire before you've paid the balance.

Regarding your specific issue: what almost everyone else has said. Draw up your list and show your friend. I also think you may have underestimated what you owe

This is all so fucked up

Who borrows money from their childminder?

You’ve clearly paid back more than you spent.

Send her a message saying you’ve paid back all you owe and if she thinks you haven’t to send you copies of the statements.

Don’t makes anymore payments!

You ordered these things under her name

You were using her account

Quite frankly she has sod all chance of proving what you owe her, even if she does produce statements.

It's her problem, not yours. Stop paying her until she gives you statements showing the list of items and the interest charges.

You are not liable for anything.
If friend wants money back she needs to prove the amount due (and even then she'd have to properly allocate any payments you made to your account which she may not have done in practice)
If she can't do that, she can't claim anything legally from you. Any court would throw it out.
If she says you owe £2K she needs to explain how. Accurately.

This is more concerning with every post. Is she still a childminder and if so are the authorities aware of the inappropriate behaviour her husband was displaying in her setting? It also sounds as if he has threatened your family.

The money you owe your 'friend' sounds like the least of the issues here tbh.

It sounds like you are both a bit chaotic with money. I think you’ve learnt a lot from this experience. Maybe time to try and sort your finances out a bit. I know it’s easier said than done though. I’d tell her that by your records you’ve paid her back in full now unless her records show otherwise please don’t contact t you again.

You also have no idea if she has been using the money to pay off the account. If she hasn't, then she will be accumulating interest. If the balance isn't paid in full after the 12 months interest free, it looks like they charge a lump sum of back interest.

USwitch are helpful in terms of calculating interest costs and payments.

Tell her to take you to small claims
They will work it all out

The amount you posted that you'd spent wasn't £1033 but £1220.
However as pp said I think you may be underestimating what you owe her. To be honest, while I don't agree with her husband approaching you, I feel she is the one who is suffering because you haven't kept track of what you've paid, yet you expect her to.

Abcdefgfedcba
All the early items have been paid for.
So you should be still interest free on later items.

Please just send her your list.
Send her your payments that you have proof of via bank statements.
Then tell her since your payments cover your purchases she needs to inform you of any outstanding and you will be making no further payments till she provides this info.
You are not liable for her interest as the account is on her name.

Small claims is only any use if op can state she has overpaid by £x and demonstrate it.

You're going to need to list all the payments and account for them as well as the Very stuff. It sounds complicated.

Please try and get in touch with a debt charity to get some proper help with this. You need RL support.

Jesus this is the craziest thing I have read on here in a long time! I have know idea where either of your stands from a legal perspective.

I would suggest you send her a letter by recorded delivery setting out what you believe you have ordered and how much you believe you have paid back and state clearly in the letter that unless she can provide clear statements to demonstrate that you still owe her money you won't make any further payments.

If her husband becomes threatening report to the police.

I do suspect that you have completely misunderstood how 12 months interest free works and you probably owe more than you think. I honestly just cannot believe people spend such vast amounts on needless items without any thought to how much they are spending and how it's going to be paid back. The level of irresponsibility here is astounding and to be honest you still don't sound to fazed by it all!

Also agree with HighnetGirth you need to go to citizens advice bureau or Stepchange for some proper real life advice.

@BlueChangeling Very give anyone an account with £100 credit, so why would the Op bother, iv got brilliant credit and only been offered higher limit as iv paid of items.

No idea why people get a catalogue with very when they're owned my Littlewoods and Littlewoods don't charge interest unless it's a bnpl and it isn't cleared before it kicks in.

I used to run a catalogue until they stopped the rewards, then there's no point. All of my customers got a payment card with how much they owed after each payment. Yes you've been foolish however the balls in your court. The fear a customer won't pay is always lurking at the back of your mind, I got stung a couple of times.

Tell her you want printouts of all her statements from the first order. On each statement will be all payments for each order owed so you can work it out. There could be a chance she's stuck it on a bnpl and got herself into a muddle as the interest rates are eye watering and hasn't kept records herself. What she has paid them isn't your problem and they won't be interested in customers not paying her either. Not any more.

Tell her you won't be paying anymore until you've seen those statements.

I don't see why Op needs to go anywhere, this debt is not in her name she won't have the bailiffs at her door the woman lending her account to everyone will.

Like iv said op send her a text saying you want the proof from statements before your next bill is due otherwise you won't be making further payment until you receive them, and tell her you need them sooner rather than later as you want to pay before the interest hits in October and you know you don't oh her £2k . 🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️

Any threats ring police and log it, she soon be in the sh.t as will lose her job if you have to do that.

I would say she needs to go somewhere because she seems to have very little grasp on how manage her own finances and will likely be in the same position next month getting harassing messages from her friend and fearing intimidation from the husband. If the OP was capable enough to sort this with out real life support then she wouldn't be in this awful mess in the first place. At least with some proper formal advice she is in a position to confidently stop this "loan shark" debt situation that she appears to have gotten into.

I'm very well aware at how stupid I have been. I suffer from depression which has impacted on how I've handled things in the past.

I'm now in a much better position in that it's well managed and my finances are now in a good place along with me working hard to improve my credit rating and make sensible choices.

Yes in the past I have ordered things I could not afford in full at the time. The payments are made were the payments requested to cover all items interest free.

I don't want to owe anyone money or ruin anyone's credit either. Which is why I asked for a statement in hopes it would help me work out how much I owe and if it is still interest free.

Once I know the balance I can work as paying this off ideally before new year. But with not knowing the balance I can't just transfer all my spare money to her and assume I've covered what I owe, if that makes sense?

Do yes I have been an absolute idiot and I am working hard on myself and my consequences at the moment.